Steven Leon Hilty

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Steven Leon "Steve" Hilty (born February 23, 1945 ) is an American ornithologist . His main interest is in the neotropical avifauna in Colombia and Venezuela . He is also the leader of bird exploration tours .

Life

In the spring of 1968 Hilty worked as a bird ringer in Cerro Punta , Panama . From 1972 to 1973, and in 1975 he led in Alto Yunda , Colombia, a field study on the fruit production of tree species Miconia and Cecropia related to the food supply of occurring in this region Tangarenarten by. This study formed the basis for his doctoral thesis Food supply in a tropical frugivorous bird community , with which he received his Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Arizona. received his doctorate. In 1972 he succeeded in rediscovering the olive tangar ( Chlorospingus flavovirens ) in the Anchicaya Valley in the province of Valle del Cauca in Colombia , a species of bird that has so far only been known from the holotype that was collected before 1867 and two specimens collected in Ecuador in 1935 was.

Hilty has worked for the ecotourism company Victor Emanuel Nature Tours since 1983 , where he led bird watching tours in North and South America as well as to India, the Orient and the Australasian region.

Hilty published the books Environmental profile of Nicaragua (1981), Draft Environmental Profile of The Kingdom of Lesotho (1982), A Guide to the Birds of Colombia (1986), Birds of Venezuela (1995), Birds of Tropical America, A watcher's introduction to behavior, breeding and diversity (1996) and Dirt, Sweat, and Diesel: A Family Farm in the 21st Century (2016). In 2011 he wrote the chapter on the family of the Tangaren (Thraupidae) in the sixteenth volume of the Handbook of the Birds of the World .

In 2003, Hilty, together with Paul Salaman , Paul Coopmans and Thomas M. Donegan, described the Negretzaunig ( Henicorhina negreti ) from Colombia. In 2009 he described in conjunction with David Ascanio to Orinocodickichtschlüpfer ( Synallaxis beverlyae ), which he named after his wife, Beverly, and in 2013, together with Andrew Whittaker the Orinokocanastero ( Thripophaga amacurensis ). He was a member of the standing committee for English common names of the International Ornithological Congress for the area of ​​South America.

Hilty is married and has two daughters.

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